Is Taelord really that bad?

[mccombju]

At 520 I've enjoyed playing the following Taelord build:

Brave Arrow - 50
MRT x3 - 210
Raelin - 80
Taelord - 180
--------------------
520 Points, 12 Hexes

One of the virtues of this build is that you can get four attack activations with a respectable attack power (3x 3A Level Ranged + 5A Brave Arrow melee). When you can achieve melee engagements, the MRT + Brave Arrow get downright nasty. Raelin keeps Taelord in the game and complements the MRT's low ranged defense. The occasional Concealment success for the MRT is a nice perk, and the strong melee defense of the MRT enable the MRT to protect Raelin (through engagement with enemy units) while benefiting from her aura. Overall, I think it's a great turtle army that can transition to aggressive play for a solid endgame.

PS. - This army went +331 vs. the Gilbert/3xKnights/3x4th in a playtesting session today.

[killercactus]

Also guys, aside from KCU's excellent performance at NHSD, it should be said that Brownsfan82 played Taelord at our NHSD (535 points) to a 4-1 record, taking either 5th or 6th place (I can't remember). He was 4-0 going to the last round with Taelord + 4th Mass x5 and lost to Nilfheim + 4th Mass x5. And this was in a field that included some darn good players (MattserTruckRally, ManTrainChooChoo, and southwest ninja being the most notable on the site, but also phantazm21zero who'll you'll recognize if you look at the NERV rankings).

He also won a Dayton tournament with the same army. It's time for Taelord to start getting some respect. When he's paired with units that have high survivability and strong attack, he does serious damage.

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by killercactus

Also guys, aside from KCU's excellent performance at NHSD, it should be said that Brownsfan82 played Taelord at our NHSD (535 points) to a 4-1 record, taking either 5th or 6th place (I can't remember). He was 4-0 going to the last round with Taelord + 4th Mass x5 and lost to Nilfheim + 4th Mass x5. And this was in a field that included some darn good players (MattserTruckRally, ManTrainChooChoo, and southwest ninja being the most notable on the site, but also phantazm21zero who'll you'll recognize if you look at the NERV rankings).

He also won a Dayton tournament with the same army. It's time for Taelord to start getting some respect. When he's paired with units that have high survivability and strong attack, he does serious damage.

What was his army?

[KCU Master 2007]

Taelord
5x 4th Mass

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Hogg

What was his army?

Brownsfan82 played Taelord + 4th Mass x5.

While this is a testament to the 4th Mass as well, I think it's a very clever use of Taelord. Would you rather face 4 attacks of [at least] 3 each turn, or kill Taelord, which gives the 4th Mass an extra defense die the entire game AND let's them get into position while you spend turns killing a cheerleader.

Like I said above - I think he's now 9-1 with that army in tourney play, and his only loss was to a virtual mirror match. That's solid.

[jotun7]

Taelord is only good if you use him right at the time. Other-wise, he's not half bad.

As in, he's good to the extent of who, what, when, where, why, and how you use him.

[MattserTruckRally]

I could see this army performing reasonably well in a 500 point setting:

Holy Strength (+1/+2)
Taelord
Marro Warriors
Krav Maga Agents
Raelin
Deathreavers x 2
Isamu
500 points

The Krav can also be swapped for the AE if you prefer but I think that is a bit to risky for such a fragile army. This would probably perform well against a large variety of armies. Watch out for Braxas of course.

[KCU Master 2007]

I call it KravTaeLin and it is probably the best "core" for a Taelord army.

[mccombju]

Originally Posted by KCU Master 2007

I call it KravTaeLin and it is probably the best "core" for a Taelord army.

Looking at the probabilities, you are indeed correct, KCU Master.

Core (360 pts):
Taelord
Raelin
Krav

Krav with 5D whiff rarely (13%) to ranged attacks (6D Krav on height with Raelin's bonus whiff 9% of the time). If you add in Laglor (450 pts), your opponent will be forced to sustain approximately two volleys of attacks from the Krav (4A or 5A w/ height) before getting a chance to engage the Krav. The obvious weaknesses of this army are attacks that target Raelin and opponents who successfully engage the Krav.

The next best core in my opinion includes the Nakitas in place of Raelin.

Core (400):
Taelord
Nakita Agents
Krav

The Krav with 3D backed up by the Nakita's Smoke Powder 13 only fall to ranged attacks slightly more than 5D Krav would (i.e. 18%). (4D Krav on height with Smoke Powder are destroyed 12% of the time). Obviously, Smoke Powder is a more conditional power, in that it doesn't work against special attacks whereas you presumably get to roll for it multiple times against common squads. Furthermore, the Nakitas offer a backup attack option should the Krav fail. Another neat synergy between the Krav and Nakitas is Engagement Strike. This ability could effectively protect the Krav from those melee squads that the Krav's attacks failed to penetrate on their approach (e.g. Minions). Once again, the addition of Laglor (510 pts) greatly improves the effectiveness of this army.

KCU Master's TaelinKravitas (heh) core obviously has the best synergies and likelihood of successfully defending against ranged attacks.

Core (480):
Taelord
Raelin
Nakita Agents
Krav

Krav with 5D and Smoke Powder only fall 8% of the time. Krav with 6D and Smoke Powder on height only fall 5% of the time. In other words, when your opponent tries to attack the figures with Order Markers from range, this is the same as needing to get a d20 roll greater than 1. That's pretty darn good, especially when paired with the devastating attack power that the Krav are afforded by Taelord's bonus.

[KCU Master 2007]

Drop Laglor into that build at 600 and you can see why it decimated several armies. Had 1 game where I denied my opponents any point (full card scoring) and another game where I didn't take a wound.

[killercactus]

I think we've identified a lot of armies here in the 500-600 point range that Taelord can be strong in. Also, none of them really have included Omnicron Snipers, which confirms my belief I've had for a while now that Taelord's best use is with units that can stick around a while rather than units with Deadly Shot.

I've played KravTaelin with 4th Mass x2 at 500 points before. It rocked. Suck them in with strong Krav, shoot them down with even stronger Mass.

I think KCU Master really deserves a lot of credit for proving the playability of Taelord, when so many players have said he was overcosted. Brownsfan shouldn't be left out either for exploiting what I'd think would be one of the simplest ways to use him - more dice = more benefit.

[dok]

Originally Posted by KCU Master 2007

Drop Laglor into that build at 600 and you can see why it decimated several armies. Had 1 game where I denied my opponents any point (full card scoring) and another game where I didn't take a wound.

Yeah, the sick thing about adding Laglor there is he basically makes Raelin and Taelord better. On most maps you can leave all three of them at the front of your startzone without order markers, and the Krav can hit anything within 13 hexes. So your OM efficiency is through the roof.

I'm looking forward to your battle report, KCU Master. Did you end up seeing any TKN armies?